when we're stuck in cloud nine
by little miss jolie
Summary: Together, they were an unstoppable force of nature. Because it didn't matter when or where they met, two halves of a heart always makes a whole. {sasusaku prompted anthology with a few other ships} T to be safe and for cussing.
1. o1: a picky sort of guy

Author: Giang Tien (little miss saigon)

Date started: 7/15/15

Date posted: 7/20/15

Rating: T just to be safe

Prompts: random little thoughts flying around one's head late into the night. beleaguering your head until you decide "FINE. I'LL WRITE THE STUPID PROMPT OF HOW THE GUY YOU LIKE PROBABLY WISHES FOR THE DREAM GIRL BUT HE ONLY GETS YOU. SO SUCK ON THAT YA ASSHAT!"

Ship: SasuSaku

Summary: Sasuke envisioned the perfect wife. Instead, he got Sakura.

 **Author's note: okay so while ive loved naruto for like, forever, its only recently ive decided to delve deeply into this world. so pardon any thing implausible or utterly inaccurate or stuff about canon because im wAYY behind in getting caught up and am a total newbie in this world. so this is gonna be like 90% BS and hoping for the best as i take the stuff i read in other fanfics, hope they were accurate canon details and stick em into my own fanfic.**

 **kk thnxs ily**

xXxX

For all his talk about his goals (which were, by any therapist's terms, _completely and utterly psychotic_ ), Sasuke clearly had issues fulfilling them.

So. Maybe he had killed his brother. Avenged his clan. _Then_ subsequently avenged his brother. Then avenged everything else by declaring to become Hokage (however _that_ worked, as he ignored the indignant screeching of Naruto in the background). Goal one, finished.

Goal two- restoring his clan.

Ehhh… he was, admittedly, a _little_ far from that.

So one sunny Konoha morning, he decided that _yes, he was going to find his future wife. Today._

xXxX

A year.

That's how long it had taken for the Shinobi Nations to recover from the Fourth Great Shinobi War. But it was all fine and dandy after that. Peace was restored, the Bijuu wandering the world, no longer as bringers of calamities (well, except for Kurama and Gyuki who decided to stick with their Jinchuurikis) and hopefully no one would accost them, and Kakashi (surprisingly) the Rokudaime until Naruto could ascend him.

Best of all, though in his heart of hearts and Sasuke would never admit it, he was home. With his family- Team 7.

"Sasuke-kunnnn!"

Walking down the streets of Konoha and avoiding the stares and whispers ("Look, it's the Uchiha survivor!" "Wow, he really came through in the war!" "KYAAAAA HE'S SO HANDSOME! SASUKE-KUN, LET ME HAVE YOUR BABIES!" "His probation is almost over, you here that?") with his hands in his pockets as usual, he headed towards Ichiraku's for lunch.

Since he had returned, he had opted to still wear his outfit before- with a few minor adjustments. He still wore the high-collared purple shirt with the _uchiwa_ fan embroidered on his back, the wraparound on his waist and the black pants but instead of the purple belt roping around his waist, he had opted for his old Konoha hitai-ate.

Sure, he was on probation. And with the stupid seals on his wrists, he couldn't channel any chakra, and subsequently ninjutsu and so no training. It was barely a week since his ANBU guards had been taken off duty, and since then he'd been practicing taijutsu when he could.

He considered himself lucky, he mused, head snapping up at a familiar voice calling his name, that the Godaime had pretty much lobbed the title at Kakashi right after the war for a much needed retirement. So when his trial came to, he had Kakashi, the current Rokudaime; Naruto, Kakashi's soon-to-be successor; and Sakura, one of the most notorious iryo-nin in all the nations of her strength, medical prowess and reputation as the Godaime's apprentice vouching for him. The elders (he growled slightly, thinking of them) had no choice but to comply with their wishes- a short probation of only a year and a half before being considered a full-fledged genin (again, a growl) and free of any charges.

"Oi, teme!" Naruto's raspy, impatient voice cut through the muggy afternoon air as the boy waved animatedly towards his friend.

Sasuke slowly meandered his way towards Naruto, smirking and greeting him with a small "hn." He slipped into the seat between Naruto and Sakura.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun," Sakura chirped, blinking at him. She had a small smile, just an upward curve of the corner of her lips.

Sasuke had one of those few "how-people-have-changed' moments. But then he supposed it was appropriate.

"Oi! Pops! One bowl of tonkotsu ramen with extra chashu!" Naruto yelled.

"On it!" Teuchi cheerfully called back, turning away to tend to the broth as Ayame prepared the noodles. "On the house for the future Hokage!"

"Yosh! I knew being Hokage would have it's perks, dattebayo!" Naruto pumped his fist in the arm, salivating at the prospect of food.

Naruto definitely had changed. A lot. He was taller from when they were thirteen, and Sasuke was starting to respect the dobe's power. Son of Yondaime, eventually controlling the Kyuubi… the list of surprises went on. (Not that he would ever openly admit that Naruto was almost his equal. _Just almost._ ) His hair was just as unruly and the same shade of _blonde._ His eyes still sparkled like a kid in a candy shop when he got his hands on some ramen (no, like seriously, for someone in-line for the title of Hokage, he could be such a _baby_ sometimes). But his face had elongated and thinned out, looking less like a little boy and more mature every day.

Naruto wasn't the same, though. He didn't carry about that air of happy, childish naivete anymore. There was a slightly more jaded and heavy air about him,

But that was easily expected of him. He'd grown up, and matured. Maybe the biggest surprise was Sakura.

Physically, she hadn't changed much except to blossom. Her forehead was still rather big, but she'd grown into it. Her face was longer and heart-shaped, thinner with higher cheekbones. She looked more mature, but she was still Sakura. Her pale skin would flush every time she yelled at Naruto (and there were _plenty_ of reasons to do so). Her pink hair was neatly kept at the same length, her pink hitai-ate tied on her head like a headband, and her eyes the all-so familiar shade of light apple-jade green.

"Oi! Teme, why are you staring at Sakura-chan like that?" The boy's completely innocently oblivious stare was fixated on Sasuke quizzically. His head was tilted to the side.

With enough venom in his glare to make even Sasori jealous, Sasuke returned the stare. "Tch. I wasn't staring."

"Yeah! You were! And your face got all weird… like, blissed out." Naruto furrowed his brow, and ignored the tonkotsu ramen with extra chashu placed in front of him.

"Hn," Sasuke forcefully grunted, pink dusting his cheeks. Was his expression so strange, it would derail Naruto's attention from ramen?

Sakura had been listening to the entire conversation apparently. A vein throbbed on her forehead, and her eye twitched. Slowly, she cracked her knuckles and gave Naruto her famous glare of death. "Naruto…" she started slowly, "if anything, you'd be staring at me like the damn pervert you are."

"Eh...ehehehe...ehehe… Sakura-chan, you know it's not like that," Naruto chucked nervously, feigning cheerfulness instead of fear, his hands held up in a placating gesture.

"Ah," a familiar voice chimed in, "so Ugly's at it again?"

As if his day couldn't get more… _annoying._

As Sasuke's replacement settled right down on the stool next to Sakura, with his ever-present fake smile plastered on his face, Sai ignored Sakura's glare. He was clad in his civilian wear- loose fitting black pants and a collared, button-up shirt. His dark hair was the same shade of his clothes- so inky black.

Like a laser, the pinkette slowly shifted her murderous gaze from Naruto to Sai. The pasty-complexioned boy appeared to be unaffected, but Sasuke knew better from the sheen of sweat on his forehead and the slightly strain on his smile.

"Is Kakashi-sensei late again?" Naruto commented, successfully defusing the tension in the air. The Jinchuuriki's guileless blue gaze drifted from Sakura to Sai, apparently gauging if he should make a run for it if the situation became bloody.

"No." Sasuke reached for a pair of chopsticks from the cup, and Sakura handed one to him silently. He grunted his thanks. "He's on a mission."

"Ehhh?" Naruto whined, slurping up noodles, "Typical old geezer. Ditching us just when the rest of us come back from a mission."

Sakura wrinkled her nose, primly digging into her shoyu ramen. "Geez, Naruto. Have some manners, will you?"

Sai cheerfully pulled his bowl of miso ramen towards himself, breaking apart his pair of chopsticks. "I read in a book that bad manners are unattractive to women. Dickless, if you want Ugly to- what's the phrase?- let you get in her pants, you might want to exhibit better manners."

It was moments like these Sasuke missed. But it was also a lie to say he was less than pleased.

Naruto effectively choked, snorting up more ramen noodles than healthy. Sakura's eyes bulged as she spat out the bit of broth she had sipped, glaring at Sai with the utter intent to _terminate._ As for Sasuke- well, he saw red.

A lot of it.

He wasn't jealous- no, hah that wasn't the cause- or protective- because Uchihas _did not get jealous._ But the thought… of Naruto and _Sakura…_

The flimsy chopsticks easily broke in his tightening grip.

"Eh? Sasuke-kun? Everything alright?" Sakura handed him another pair of chopsticks, mildly concerned. He tried to ignore the mesmerizing way her pink hair framed her face, the way her eyebrows dipped downwards as she frowned, and the pretty shade of green her eyes were. Were they always that luminosu?

"Hn." He glared balefully at Sai, dark hair falling across his gaze. He had never liked the boy, and what he had just said added a whole new reason to hating his name in private.

"B-but- well- I mean- I like Sakura-chan-b-but not in that way- anymore- ahaha-" Naruto nervously spluttered, glancing at Sasuke in vain for assistance.

"We all know it's you and Hinata-chan," Sakura playfully jibed, taking a bite of the chashu slices in her bowl.

"Yeah, yeah… me and Hinata-chan… dattebayo!" he grumbled, slurping up the broth messily.

Sakura laughed.

Somewhere in the back of Sasuke's mind, he decided he liked that sound.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun," Sai said, pausing from eating his miso ramen, "if I recall, you had two goal. You have already exacted your revenge, and so your second goal is to revive your clan… but if you're anything like Dickless, you'd be completely hopeless, clueless, and dickless."

Sasuke was absently wondering as he slowly began to shatter his spoon if he should kill Sai. Then he wouldn't have to tell the stupid pale bastard to shut up anymore.

Sakura looked slightly concerned for Sai's future, if he even had one to fulfill at this point. Naruto was just barely suppressing his laughter.

"So, do you have a candidate for a matriarch in mind?"

Well. That wasn't as bad as he had expected it to be.

"Well…" Naruto chewed slowly, "she would have to be able to put up with Sasuke-teme's shit. She would have to be able to have children… preferably from a good background. Oh, classy manners, and isn't an annoying fangirl. Has to know how to cook some supremely kick-ass onigiri, understand his fetish for tomatoes, and can clean and be a perfect housewife."

Sasuke grunted. Though in agreement or dissent, it was hard to tell.

"Is that accurate, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's voice betrayed no sign of jealousy or displeasure. She sounded neutral, her now-calm gaze trained on his face. He calmly met her gaze, onyx eyes devoid of betraying any emotion.

"Hai." He paused to take a sip of his broth. "But although that is the ideal, it's not what I am looking for."

Sakura stared at him. "What?"

Sai looked mildly amused, unlike Naruto who looked positively lost.

"Ehhhh? Teme- but-but that would be the perfect wife for a Uchiha bastard like you!" he yelled (when did he not?), flailing his arms. Sasuke wasn't sure if the orange tracksuit the stupid idiot still wore could possibly burn his retinas any further.

"Then what do you want, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in a soft voice.

He smirked.

His kiss, with the scent of pine and cinnamon, left her feeling dizzy and infatuated.

He was always a picky sort of guy.


	2. o2: red glasses and pink hair

Author: Giang Tien (little miss saigon)

Date started: 7/20/15

Date posted:

Rating: T just to be safe

Prompts: silvery-black, glasses!AU, funeral and laughing

Ship: SasuSaku

Summary: He didn't know she wore glasses. She looked good in them, anyway. She always did.

 **Author's note: um so the next prompt will be 'rouge'**

 **this one is a glasses!AU that randomly came because i mean i was reading the gaiden and was liek "ermegerd sarada has dem glasses" and im liek "wait what if sakura had glasses too ajkdfjl"**

 **and then theres a kid from my old school i haven't talked to in like, years, and his mom is really sick too from what i've heard. so i guess this is kinda way to be like "hey bro its all gonna be okay cuz friends are here and… stuff." yeah im not really one for sentimental words**

 **EURG**

 **cept hes never gonna see this**

 **eheheh whatever**

XXX

The rain matched his mood.

He stared down at the bleak, stone-gray tombstone, the light of the candle placed at its base weakly flickering over the engraved words.

 _Uchiha Mikoto_

 _Mother to Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke_

 _Wife to Uchiha Fugaku_

 _Will always be remembered in our hearts_

It had been over a week since the hospital had delivered the news. But he was still in shock.

Did everything have to be taken away? First Fugaku, his father, died in the line of duty during an armed standoff. The police chief was sorely missed at the station, even now, a year after his death.

Then soon followed Itachi. By a myriad of medical conditions from leukemia to other diseases Sasuke could never pronounce, his brother was dead by the time Sasuke's birthday rolled around this year.

And now? His mother was gone. Damn cancer got to her, too. Stupid damn terminal illnesses. Stupid damn chemotherapy. Stupid damn shit statistics from the doctors at Konoha Hospital.

The bouquet of flowers clutched in his fist were slowly crushed as he slowly went through the day's events in utter and complete shock.

He had woken up at the crack of dawn, as usual on Monday. He needed to get to work early. Paying for his mom's medical bills as well as the house's rent, electricity, water bills and food… it was no wonder why the house was spartan. Sure, the Uchihas were wealthy enough. But Sasuke didn't want to use any of that money. No, he wanted to wait until he needed the money desperately.

His job as a deputy in the Konoha Police Station paid well enough. And besides, he didn't see the point of having extraneous furniture or mementos or anything like that… after Itachi's loss, he was done with all that sentimental crap. His sole purpose was supporting himself and his mom.

 _And look how that turned out,_ he thought bitterly, examining the wilting blooms in his grip.

The day had gone by fast. He finished his daily job- patrolling the more cushy areas of Konoha, handing out tickets, and managing the station during his rounds. He had collapsed on the couch at home. His face was flushed and sweaty, his uniform and hair in complete disarray. Stupid kids goofing off at the mall didn't know when to stop when it was good for them. He had chased them all around the damn mall, then finally apprehending the stupid brats, he kicked them out of the mall and called their parents to take them to the depot. Stupid delinquents. Since when was shoplifting and tampering with the public water fountains and parkouring the cool thing?

That was when shit got real.

The phone rang. His brows furrowed.

Who could be calling him? Ugh, like he cared. He was damn tired and hungry and he would be getting his sleep. Screw Naruto or whoever was calling him at the most ungodly hour of the night.

 _Call from: Konoha Hospital._

His blood ran cold. Icy-cold.

The hospital would only call for two things: if his mother's condition had gotten worse… or…

Growling, heaving his sore body from the couch, he refused to finish the second thought. He would _not_ let Mikoto die on him.

Fifteen minutes later, he was crying.

The next week went by in a blur. Revising funeral plans, guests who were to be invited, the eulogy to be said, and the financial things to be taken care of. But did it really matter?

It was just all a stupid game to him. He wanted to mourn his mother in peace. Why the hell did he have to plan a damn funeral? But his grandfather, Uchiha Madara wanted nothing otherwise. The old geezer demanded nothing less for the wife of his son.

 _Planning three funerals in one year. Annoying-ass karma is just out to get me, huh?_

The funeral service took the entire day. More and more blobs of people meandered in to pay their respects. Speakers were called up to recount the numerous memories of Uchiha Mikoto. When it was Sasuke's turn, he had recited his speech mechanically.

People patted him on the back, gave him their condolences and snuck in glances of pity when his back was turned.

Then it was over

The station had given him a week of leave to mourn.

He had put off visiting the local cemetary for a couple days. But he was here now.

He studied the flowers in the bouquet Yamanaka Ino had dropped by his door that morning ("Sasuke-kun, take care of yourself, okay?").

Bluebells- grateful. Cherry blossoms- kindness and a gentle nature. Daffodil- respect. Red spider lily- never to see you again. Morning glory- willful promises. Pansy- thoughtfulness and caring. A single white rose- silence and devotion.

But the most heartbreaking of them all-

It was just one stalk with a few, vibrant blooms.

Sweet pea-

 _Goodbye._

He let the tears fall, body shaking as he laid the bouquet down. The thin, black mourning clothing stuck to his skin in the damn morning mist.

Sasuke turned away, hair shadowing his face, hands shoved in his pockets as he turned to leave.

"Sasuke-kun…?" a tentative, familiar voice called out.

He raised his head to meet the worried, gentle and concerned gaze of green eyes.

"Sakura," he muttered, skirting around her. He wasn't in the mood of chatting with his long-time friend.

"Sasuke-kun," she reiterated gently, placing a reassuring, delicate and cool hand on his shoulder.

Her pink hair was let loose, brushing the tips of her shoulders. She looked the same, really. Pale skin, apple-jade green eyes, unusual pink hair that glinted with shades of blonde and red in the sunlight, and…

"Glasses." It wasn't a question, but rather an observation. He reached with his spidery fingers to brush them along the red frames perched on her nose.

"Yeah," she laughed. Then he noticed the slightly wobbly tremor in her voice and the ways her eyes shone with tears. "I can't wear my contacts while I cry. They always fall out."

For some odd reason, that completely tiny, insignificant detail made him want to laugh. A bubble burst inside of him, and he allowed himself to snort in amusement.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun," she murmured, hugging him tightly.

He blinked, unsure and taken aback. He glanced down at the pink head resting on his chest.

He was never really sure what to make of her. First starting out as many of his annoying admirers in elementary school, progressing to a mature young woman- and his best friend, besides Naruto.

She was so tiny, he thought to himself, sighing as he wrapped his arms around her too. But somehow she had always impacted his life in a large sort of way- either as company, a friend, a confidante, or something more.

"You know that we'll always be there for you, right, Sasuke-kun? Your second family." He voice was muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

He tilted his head skywards, noting the small ray of sunshine peeking through the bleak gray clouds that were breaking up. A slight breeze passed through the leaves of the sakura tree bending over the graves of his family, shaking loose a storm of delicate pink petals. They rested on the ground on top of the graves and decorated the tombstones, making them look a little less sad.

Maybe things would be okay.

"Aa."


	3. o3: one too many drinks and more

Author: Giang Tien (little miss saigon)

Date started: 7/20/15

Date posted:

Rating: T just to be safe

Prompts: one too many drinks and a broken ANBU mask. oh, and a philosophical quest on the biblical definition of shit.

Ship: SasuSaku

Summary: Some habits were passed down from the Sannin to their apprentices. Some good, some bad… and some… well, they weren't so bad.

 **Author's note:okayokay i know i lied**

 **I SAID THIS WOULD BE ROUGE**

 **AHHA SORRY**

 **THE NEXT ONE WILL BE**

 **rouge was supposed to be a clubbing-fic but the idea of inebriated sakura getting sasuke drunk or something like that was jsut too good to resist**

 **also i just reallyreallyreally wanted to write sakura yelling "SHITTY PEOPLE ARE SHIT"**

 **anyway so this is another random idea i had. i mean all of the prompts thus far are of my own imagination, but if you guys wanna like PM me prompts… yeah.**

 **prompts in reviews will be removed and ignored. thanks ya'll!**

XXX

The rumours about the three great Sannin and their apprentices were true- Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had picked up on their various habits.

Naruto had become a flat-out _pervert_ , often accompanying Kakashi to their onsen-peeping-tom expeditions (Sakura refused to heal any collateral damage or lacerations caused to them as a result of these adventures). Sasuke, well… he was just glad he didn't turn out to be a purple eyeshadow-using pedphile. That would've been mildly concerning.

As for Sakura? She'd inherited Tsunade's good looks, her freakishly scary strength (never again would Naruto attempt to peep on her… he still had the scars to prove it), and her short temper. Oh, yeah. And the drinking.

Sakura was having one of _those_ days. The days when the shit just piles up so you want to get stumbling down the hall, pass out and fall on your ass and throw-up in the toilet drunk. There was just so much _shit._ Shitty shit shit shit. Like, run around, flailing your arms, screaming and spazzing shit. Life just gave her so much shit, she wanted to shit right back at its face and chuck more shit at it.

"Sashkay-kuunn," she moaned breathily, flailing on her stool. "Yoo haveta see 'Kashi's face… it's like… bootiful." Her already unfocused and glazed eyes narrowed, and she spread her arms out and waved them animatedly as well as making vague and random motions. "It's like… I am holdin' dis chihld in my hands and it's like 'oh my frickin' god this child I popped outta myself is beautiful, but not as _damn downright sexy as the depraved old man._ '"

Her ANBU uniform was completely tattered, showing off bits of skin that should've been illegal. Blood stains permeated almost the entirety of the black cloth, her cracked cat mask hanging haphazardly off her neck. Her hair, now longer and kept in a high ponytail, was in utter disarray.

Sasuke resisted the urge to snort. Naruto was already passed out, head on the bar counter and drool dripping from his mouth. Gross. Kakashi was gone on a mission, so had had absolutely no idea what stemmed that random comment.

During the most ungodly hours of the night, the Konoha bar was relatively quiet. It was supposed to be closed, but as soon as the bartender had seen their tattered ANBU forms, he'd quietly resigned to let them in. Drinking after a particularly tricky assassination mission was usual for Team 7 now that they were past their days of innocence. Hell, they'd probably come around her so much, the bartender probably knew their names and where they lived.

The night had started out normal enough. Sasuke had quietly ordered a sake, Naruto yelled for various shots of vodka because of the regeneration abilities, he had to drink a lot to get drunk...and Sakura? Well, she ordered enough alcohol to put Tsunade's feats to shame.

After consuming fifteen shots, Naruto had drunkenly attempted to strip (not that there was much to strip from his already ruined and ripped uniform…) and kiss the bartender before passing out. Sakura had chugged two bottles of sake without taking a single breath, and now was swaying dangerously on her seat.

Granted, Sasuke was in better condition (medically, and in terms of drunkeness). Sakura had already healed all their injuries before entering Konoha, so that was all well and taken care of, but his uniform wasn't nearly quite as raggy. His clothes were singed and burned, but that was just about it. The stupid missing-nin they had assassinated had a helluva fire jutsu. While Naruto and Sakura went hand-to-hand combat with the Iwagakure nuke-nin, he had waited until the man was exhausted before diving in for the final blow. In which the man had unleashed a final last-resort attack that Sasuke marginally avoided before plunging his tanto into the guy's chest and ripping upwards.

Yeah, that was fun.

So after collecting the body and dumping it at the morgue and reporting to Tsunade, all three of the staggered their merry way to the bar.

Sasuke sipped his sake, carefully eyeing Sakura. His shattered raven ANBU mask lay on the bar counter carelessly. The thing was broken, anyway. He'd have to get a new one.

"I mean, ish not fair," Sakura slurred, draping herself over Sasuke. She slung an arm over his shoulder, smirking devilishly as she leaned in close. He sat completely still, eyes determinedly trained on the wall in front of him. He would _not_ be distracted by her.

Sakura giggled maniacally, her lips brushing his ear. Sasuke stiffened, and could smell the sweet sake that winded through her breath. "Ya know, Sa-su-ke, I was wondering… if I should try and hook up with Sai."

Sasuke almost puked sake out from his nose if not from his intensive Uchiha training of good manners in his childhood.

"Likeeeeeee," she mumbled deliriously, attempting to seductively tracing her finger down his cheek but instead succeeding in poking him on the side of his nose, "he's kinda like you, neeeeee? Butcha don't like me back…." She giggled. "Tsunade-shishou liked that creepy-ass, purple eyeshadow-using pedo… he's like, the purple eyeshadow-using Satan… yeah, and you pretty much sold your soul to him 'fore me and Naru-face busted your ass outta there."

Gritting his teeth and attempting to keep the anger out of his voice (no, he was _not_ jealous)

"You were talking about why you should date Sai," he said, evenly.

"Ooh, yeah." She giggled, dropping her head to rest on his shoulder. She snuggled closer, but for some reason Sasuke didn't mind. It wasn't the kind of snuggling to try to get in his pants, but just a childlike, innocent kind of cuddle. "Well," she started, narrowing her eyes at something, "Naruto is sure you're like, gay."

Sasuke choked on his sake for the nth time. If Sakura kept this up, he'd be dead before she finished her story.

"And…" her expression grew a little more wistful and sad, her tone more serious, "it's not like you'd ever reciprocate my feelings. So I'll have to settle for second best- Sai. Although Pig _does_ have her hands all over him. You were never really there for me or Naruto… I mean, you were the reason Naruto ditched me too. 'To get stronger,' he said. Just like you. But I think that's kinda crazy 'cause I knew I still reallyreallyreallyrealllllyyyy liked you even when you were gone. So I'm just a stoopid drunk chick hung up over the hottest and nicest and smartest and greatest and bestest guy she'd never known 'n stuff."

Sasuke sighed. He wasn't really sure how to feel or react. For starters, it was true he had pretty much rebuffed her every single time she reached out when they were young. And he had totally ditched her and cut his bonds with her and all that crap. Sasuke had abandoned her for more than three years, then expected to be welcomed back with open arms after he waltzed back in her life. His hands loosely fisted, his nails leaving crescent-shaped marks on his palm. He knew that he wouldn't ever forget how he had screwed both Sakura and Naruto over. The guilt would plague him every day of his life, and the fact that Sakura and Naruto had forgiven him so easily didn't help.

He wanted to scream, "But I left all of you, tried to kill you, and hurt you and murder you and everything else that you aren't supposed to do to your precious people!"

"Aaaannndd," she slurred, clearly about to pass out. The extra half-bottle sake she had just chugged wasn't doing her any favors. Swaying on her seat dangerously, her jaw hung a little slackly as she giggled. "SHITTY PEOPLE ARE SHIT!" she declared, holding up one finger sagely, "And along the road of life, I have discovered the biblical definition of shit is Umbridge from Harry Potter. Like, god, what a toady, froggy, fugly pink-loving old-lady beotch. Don't tell Naruto I said that about toads."

Then promptly passed out on Sasuke's shoulder, like they were sitting on his couch and watching a movie with Naruto sprawled all over the floor and her curled up at his side. Except that they had nearly died a few hours before, with blood splattered all over them.

But he didn't mind.

He rested his cheek on her head, her hair soft as silk. Her chest rose and fell easily, her features at peace. The shards of his broken ANBU mask lay forgotten.

He'd always be there to look out for her. If she were drunk, or sleeping, or eating, or training, or anything, he'd always look out for her. And she'd always look out for him.

They were family, after all.


End file.
